Alabama pension system buys largest share of shipbuilding firm

Published 6:00 pm, Thursday, January 17, 2008

The Retirement Systems of Alabama has become the largest investor in Signal International, with a $100 million purchase of shares in the shipbuilding firm that will move its headquarters from Pascagoula, Miss., to RSA's new skyscraper in Mobile.

RSA bought about $100 million worth of shares in the $240 million company, said RSA chief David Bronner of Montgomery.

He said RSA had been working on the deal for "months and months."

"We see good things in the shipping industry as the world becomes a global market," Bronner told the Press-Register for a story Friday.

Signal builds and repairs ships and offshore oil rigs. The firm employs about 3,000 people in Mobile, Pascagoula and in the Texas cities of Houston, Port Arthur and Orange.

In the next six to nine months, Signal will move its headquarters from Pascagoula to the 35-story RSA Battle House Tower. The company leased 6,000 square feet of office space.

RSA was approached about the purchase by Washington, D.C.-based ACON Investments, Bronner said. ACON, a private investment firm, bought Signal out of the bankruptcy estate of Friede Goldman in 2003, and retains a minority ownership position, Signal officials said.

Signal has grown and diversified its business since the 2003 ACON purchase, company officials said.

"Our markets remain strong and we are poised to take on additional work in both the energy and general heavy marine fabrication," Signal CEO and board chairman Richard Marler said in a statement.

Marler described ACON as "an outstanding partner and a driving force in ensuring we had the resources for growth."

He added that Signal employees are "proud of the recognition that our new investors have given."